karelm

My awesome friend and classmate made that film!!! Go Annie! Her husband is Dylan Hart who is a big time horn player himself and played on the Star Wars sequel trilogy and so much else. These two awesome people are carving their path as the next generation of memorable horn performers that future players will look up to. Annie is one of the sweetest people and educators as she's a horn professor as well and wrote a book about auditioning and performance anxiety...a serious problem many talented musicians suffer with. She worked very hard on this film and I remember her saying her hope was to catalog the recollections of the vintage players, many of which were no longer employed when she made it. It's a recurring story that the old guard finds it harder to find work as newer (sometimes cheaper) players are either more available or have more stamina for more gigs (for example, you work a full day and then have to work a second shift, becomes way harder as you get older especially for brass players when you lose your chops over hours of overuse). I hear the same thing from other players. It's sad but the career takes a physical toll and eventually the younger people have more stamina. Being a professional musician is basically like being a professional athlete. It's rare that you make it to retirement age in top shape. Annie wanted to interview some of those horn legends when they were still around to talk about their prime experiences most of which was in their past.

This is so gorgeous! The whole album is sublime.

I finally saw the film. I liked it! Definitely not perfect. I haven't read a single post in this thread since I'm anti-spoiler but thought it was overall fun, just wish they had a bit more character nods. For example, how Spiderman No Way Home had the three spidey's banter in a very fun way about their character traits. This helped tell the story and gave the fans of each franchise much to love. I wish there was way more of that in this film. They did a little bit of it, but added new characters too that didn't really serve too much purpose while also underusing other characters. I overall felt satisfied though there were noticeably missed opportunities. I thought the music was good, maybe could have used a tip of the hat more to JW for creating the sound of the franchise. I kind of liked how they redeemed Dr. Henry Wu. It could have had more weight though. He frankly wasn't that important, just a side character. I really liked Ramsey's character. Very glad he wasn't too flipping. It felt real. Dichen Lachman didn't have a completion arch. That was the weakest part of the film, the spy sequence was just unnecessary or poorly executed with lots of characters we don't care about. But overall, definitely not great but enjoyable which is frankly exactly what I thought of Jurassic park in 1993. It's not a deep film, it's popcorn movie and this was fun.

Though I'm not familiar with the original, I found this was loads of fun! Reminded me of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody. Great job!

Do you want me to read the page to you? It literally breaks down how they estimate what you are asking about.

This guy can eat them both for breakfast. George Lucas Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

This is a proposed budget. Not what it cost but a good reference. It's clearly an early draft. Likely the producers needed a guestimate, so the various teams submit early guesses and that's what leaked here. For example, this as far as I can tell does not include the very pricey concert soloist, Hilary Hahn, who could charge $100k per day and at the bottom of the page, the film had a working title of "The Woods". This is clearly a projected budget so the filmmakers can get the necessary approvals from accounting before moving forward. I would bet whoever leaked this was a production student of a teacher who worked on the film and was showing an example budget they worked on. It's very useful for those who want a benchmark of what fees are like but there are place holders and guesses. Stuff like "studio fees" just where composers know they always have unanticipated equipment needs.

Sad news. One of the most iconic riffs in history to a great, great character. RIP.

You can think of it as he's an A list (top call). Like Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Powell, etc. They charge about one million to two million per film JUST for creative fees but also make royalties and charge for other services like conducting and orchestrating. We know those fees because those are union scales which usually are set as minimums, but you again know with these people, they charge a premium so can charge quadruple scale. That means if JW conducts his music for his film, he is charging at least four times the union scale. It's not that easy to know what union scale is because it's based on the budget of the film. An ultra-low budget film might be $one million and less which pretty much none of these people do, so the conducting fee for that film would be maybe $100 per hour including pension (then JW and the other A listers would charge quadruple scale) so $400 an hour at the low end. For big budget like Indiana Jones, Marvel, etc., union scale is around $250 with all pensions and fees so A listers would charge $1,000 per hour. They'd record 6 hours per day if in LA (steep surcharge if it goes into overtime) and can take two to three weeks so on a very big budget film, you can imagine JW making $90,000 for conducting the score ($1,000 per hour x 6 hours a day x 5 days a week for 3 weeks). These days, he'd outsource to Dudamel and Ross some of those hours. Also keep in mind the Star Wars films had multiple sessions but clearly budget wasn't an issue in that case. Those might have been six weeks of sessions spread across a few months. I doubt JW ever charged more than 2 million for a creative fee because he pretty much only works with his friends or passion projects. In short, he isn't really a business and when you calculate all the money he's made (remember Star Wars soundtrack was the highest selling classical album for like a decade with something like 11 million copies sold...now Titanic is considered #1 but all the Star Wars albums have sold millions and are in the top 200 so all combined are probably 50 million plus copies), plus with his relatively modest lifestyle, he has way more money than he can ever spend. Marvel and Star Wars seems to be on TV all the time so they also get nice royalty checks. Again, these are very, very complicated because they don't pay straight rates. Prime time and major channels pay higher than 1am cable. I would bet these A listers get at least another one or two million a year purely from royalties of their movies always being played around the world and having a long catalog of popular films. These are very, very rich people.

Fans of the series will be very happy, and the music was of consistently high quality. It was an enjoyable experience.

I was/am on the music team. The series original composers are back but this time, we have live instruments! The original two games were early 90's midi. The original composers are LucasArts originals and legends I'm so honored to be working with them all because I'm huge fans of them. They are Michael Land, Peter McConnell, and Clint Bajakian. They are exceptionally talented and awesome people! I don't know anything about the story other than I worked on music related to locations and cinematics.

I might have to go for this. The original movies are all excellent. I enjoy most of TNG movies too but the originals have a very special nostalgia for me, fantastic scores too!

Hey, I worked on this one! Excited to play it too after seeing it in action!

I don't think it's about "fearing" to not be allowed to use the music but trying to have different styles...a more contemporary approach and old school approach. You can think of this creatively in other aspects too. They are not directing the series with Lucas' visual style either. They're trying to do their own thing in that universe. They aren't using plastic models (as far as I know) but using CGI vfx - they are using modern tools and approaches while trying to stay true to the original. That's what I'm hearing with the music. The composer was given liberties and I thought she did a very fine job doing her thing without yielding to pressure to mimic what came before. I think the same was the case with Giacchino in Rogue One. He wasn't doing JW, he was doing Giacchino's version of Star Wars. I think that's a wise move. In five seconds of blind taste test, no one will confuse that JW did not compose Rogue One.

Yes, it's a courtesy. He has no legal ownership of it. Composers generally do not own their music, studios do. In low budget or indie, there are more exceptions to this because copyright ownership can allow for additional payment. He would get paid a "writer's share" if they use his material, but it gets complex. For example, if in sixty seconds, they use 10 seconds of JW's material, he gets a small cut of 50% of payment for that cue (and all of this has exceptions). This is basically the studio and producers say they revere JW's contribution to such an extent, that he is so much a part of the DNA of the films, his input is valued. No one has to adhere to it or have an obligation to ask him, it's a courtesy. If he said, "I really hate the way my material was used", they could ignore his feedback and that would just make it all the harder to secure his involvement in other projects. Gordy Haab mentioned in his contract on Star Wars games, where he does a fantastic job conjuring the aura of the JW prequel sound, he said each cue he composed had a period of approval by three groups: Disney, the game producers, and JW. JW probably didn't hear much of it, but was allowed an opportunity to weigh in. Gordy said he only heard comment on one or two cues and the feedback was general in terms of creative choices made such as "I wouldn't have done that there" and Gordy complied. These weren't major issues, just minor stylistic tweaks to make it feel more authentic. Disney, the producers, or Gordy could have said no, I'm sticking with my instinct which could have been career limiting if in future projects, JW indicates disappointment in the musical approach. Also keep in mind almost universally, JW is revered by musicians and composers especially those a generation or so after him who grew up with his sounds in our heads. Hearing feedback is a bit like hearing the voice of god. There really aren't any parallels.

I just saw Spielberg's "Always" for the first time today. Wow, weak film. Felt like a tv movie. Score was great but it doesn't hide the weakness of the film. It had its moments but nothing a TV film wouldn't have scored. It makes Hook seem like a masterpiece. Compare it to contemporary films of the same genre like "Ghost" and "Field of Dreams". It makes me question Spielberg's strengths as a director. Is he a director who hides behind great composers, cast, editors, cinematographers, etc., or am I nuts?

...his son has it...his grandkids have it but they're all more in pop music. I believe they consider the surname to be a curse of sorts. There are many precedents for this. Richard Wagner's son, Sigfried struggled to find his voice without being compared to his far superior father. None of Russian/Ukranian composer Prokofiev's children were composers but his grandson is Gabriel Prokofiev (b. 1975) who is also a DJ and sound world has no connection to his grandfather's distinctive sound seeming to have abandoned expectation. None of Dmitri Shostakovich's children are composers though they're musicians of other disciplines (conducting or pianist) however his grandson (Dmitri Jr) might be...I once heard he was studying composition but nothing original of his has surfaced other than a Chandos album where he performs the piano concerto his father premiered. It seems like when someone has achieved genius level talent, the talent ends with them. Einstein had children and none of them were exceptionally bright. It seems they collapse under expectation until they abandon their legacy and surname (like Nicholas Cage changing his surname from Coppola).

Here it is with AI upscaling. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_5UC3ZDNU2wc6bW8due08A7t4i674fAo?usp=sharing Not perfect but makes it a little better. 2120583139_ep2_music_m320AIUpscaled.mp4

I like it but you could add a "middle layer" of ornaments or moving inner lines especially when the visuals are clear like around 0:15 and after. Right now, you have melody and harmony but not so much a middle element of flourishes, swoops, ornaments, etc., which makes it feel a bit static. Like in this, notice how many layers develop from a very simple opening in just 30 seconds: You have the horn melody, the string arpeggios, the rising counter line in the low brass, harmony in choir, etc. You might want to try adding more elements as yours develops like an inner mid voices "motor" for propulsion, a counter line, swoops and ornaments etc. Don't overuse them but carefully add elements. The opening flutes don't bother me, but I think it doesn't give a sense of mystery or wonder. It's a bit too on the nose.

I've been playing around with an AI upscaler. Sometimes produces interesting results but gives everything a painted look. I haven't gotten good results overall, the original video quality is just really poor quality.

That's fantastic!!! He's an inspiration to us all.

What's the organ going to do!?!

Wonderful arrangement, performance, and of course music!

Wow, that's sophisticated!

Totally agree! The flaw of the show was from a marketing point of view, Seth MacFarlane is a comic strip creator, producer and writer of the Family Guy. So they pushed it as a sort of sci-fi comedy. Great sci-fi shows have great heart and sometimes use comedy to tell story. Star Trek OST had lots of humor AND drama! But he's so much more than that! He's a professional musician (member in good standing of local 47, same union with John Williams) and was given an award for his contribution to the local scoring scene because his shows always feature large orchestras which is very rare these days especially for tv/streaming. Just think about it...Orville just used a 95-piece feature film orchestra recorded at 20th Century Fox's Newman's stage. That's what 200 million dollar films get not an episodic tv show in the age of synths and remote recordings! He's also very brilliant in how he incorporates astrophysics, philosophy, pop culture, etc., in to his stories. He's a modern day Rod Serling and Gene Roddenberry hiding complex morality tales behind sci-fi allegory. He's passionate about the arts, sciences, etc. I attended his concert of big band songs he commissioned with LA Local 47 and Joel McNealy and he kept on heaping praise on their talent and wishing to keep the arts of alive. The crazy thing is I've seen him do the same about science. He's awesome! I'll also add that Joel McNeeley is a wonderful composer and teacher. I personal memory I'd like to share. I had a session where he was the mentor. I felt it went horribly. I was so embarrassed and looked back at him to see him with a big smile enjoying the music and waxing philosophically about music and its transcending qualities. It was deeply humbling that he had such a big smile on my music and how supportive and encouraging he was on what I considered to be a failure because of wrong notes or poor writing. He gave me so much confidence. I captured that moment in a picture so will look for it later.